The Essence of A Hero
by Kifo Sotri
Summary: When Page and the Prince entered Reaver's mansion, she had thought it was going to be a simple smash and grab. She hadn't expected to witness something more unnerving than she had ever imagined. (In which Page gets a glimpse of the Player as they control the Hero.)


Page had heard about heroes, of course. Everyone had, and everyone knew they were gone now. So when Walter had told her that the King's brother was a true Hero, she had taken it with a grain of salt. A true Hero or not, she wasn't going to put her faith in some noble who probably didn't care about the people in the slightest. Still, in all of the stories, they never mentioned just how _scary_ it was to see them fighting.

The first glimpse that Page got of how Heroes fight was at that horrible "party" that Reaver hosted. She'd been scared when the crazed deviant said that they were going to fight Hobbes, of course she had. It was natural to feel some fear when going up against what were supposed to be bleeding fairytales. But the Hero hadn't even seemed phased, as if he'd done this hundreds of times before. He even stopped to pick up the complimentary health potion that Reaver had left at the door. Page had heard him mutter something about "possibly needing it later" as he grabbed it and walked through the threshold.

As it turns out, there wasn't a need for a health potion at all. The moment that the Hobbes had poured out of the gates, with their glowing eyes and giant sharp teeth, Page had hesitated. They were exactly as scary as the old tales her mother used to tell her. The Prince, on the other hand, had drawn his pistol and started firing before the Hobbes had begun to move from the entrances. He was a whirlwind of lead, walking straight into the middle of the beasts and firing with expert precision. It took him less than a second to reload his pistol, less time than the Hobbes needed to start fighting back, and by the time their small brains had seen the opening, he was firing once more. Through it all Page was standing where she had been in the beginning, firing her pistol at whatever stragglers weren't being executed by the Hero. After the dust settled, and Reaver had dismissed them from the chamber, Page was left with a veritable paragon of murder standing amidst the scene of a slaughter. That wasn't her greatest shock, however. The thing that scared her the most was how his eyes glowed blue around the iris, as if some force was possessing his body and exerting its will through him.

The second round went much the same as the first, and Page found herself less surprised (though still very much disturbed) by the reality of the hollow men standing in front of her. Not that any of them were focusing on the rebellion's leader. No, all of those decayed and rotting eyes were focused on the Hero once more. His eyes had yet to lose their glowing hue, and he had yet to say a word, nor even tremble slightly at the challenge before him. He had simply drawn his hammer as if it were naught but a feather, and gone to work. There were no wasted movements, no excess flourishes. The man, if he could even be called that anymore, exuded a primal control that had her shooting hand shaking ever so slightly. As he finished the second to last hollow, the final one tried it's hand at a backstab, only to find it's head missing and the Hero's smoking pistol held at his hip. As the final hollow crumbled and Page heard Reaver speak, she tried to go over what had happened in the last few seconds from memory. One moment, the Prince had been focused on the enemy in front of him, and within a second he had drawn his pistol and executed the enemy directly behind him, without even turning around.

After dealing with the mercenaries and the exotic Sand Furies, not to mention bearing witness to the stoic slaughter that was the Hero twice more, Page found herself thinking the fight was over. As if to spite her, however, Reaver's "guests" had turned into monstrous creatures and jumped down to their level. In that moment, she had been terrified, but the Hero was moving once more and decimating their foes one by one. Unfortunately, the creatures were more difficult to hit than any other enemy she had faced in her life. The dodged with inhuman speed, and their claws were sharp enough to gouge stone from the walls with a single swipe. Still, enough bullets would eventually put them down, as she found out when she blasted the brains out of her first one. Turning to check on the Hero, though she knew it wouldn't be necessary, she found him moving like a dancer, with his sword (wasn't he using a hammer before?) and pistol both drawn and being used to fight the monsters. He would duck under their swipes and slice the beasts while his pistol seemed to fire independently, wounding, if not killing, many of them at a time. Even stranger than his seeming ability to shoot without looking was his eyes. Not only were the irises glowing, his entire eye socket was shining with a bright blue light. The Prince fought like a man possessed, and Page was slowly beginning to think that that was exactly what he was. Perhaps some otherworldly force had decided that intervention was needed here, she couldn't tell. What she could tell was that the glow was fading. Like a lantern being snuffed, as the second to last monster fell the light in the Hero's eyes blinked out. He looked around and smiled at her, not seeing the last creature landing right behind him. With a quick shot and some luck, however, she was able to slay the beast.

When Reaver started talking again, she decided that she had had enough. She fired a shot straight at his head, and was amazed when his cane flew up to block it. Even as he was infuriatingly monologuing, she was more focused on his eyes. They were the same color that they had always been, no trace of that glowing light. As she came back from her thoughts, she heard Reaver saying his goodbyes. Knowing she might never get another chance, she started firing once more. Unfortunately for her, she was too late. Reaver was gone. Turning back to the Prince in a huff, she noticed that he was far more animated than he had been while they were still fighting. He smiled and nodded to the now open exit, as he pulled out his pistol once more. Gesturing to the ceiling, he and Page both moved out of the way of Kidd's cage before he shot the chain.

Once Kidd was safe and they were all out of the manor, Page turned to the Prince once more. She promised her aid in the fight against Logan, and made sure to let him know that the cost was nothing more than the equal treatment of the poor, and the end of Reaver's horrific labor laws. As the Prince shook her hand, she saw his eyes glow once more, and he gave her a knowing smile that rattled her to the core. That smile said so many things, and all of them spoke of a wisdom and age that was far beyond her own. Turning to walk away, Page couldn't help but feel like there were two sides to the Prince of Albion. One that was himself, and one that was something far older.


End file.
